Tuesday, May 26, 2009

When God Has a Job for Us

There are seasons when God uses his refining fire on me and I've come to know these as the times HE'S burning off the "phoney and the baloney". I can be stubborn and can give lots of "plausible" excuses when I don't want to do something, I must confess that when God shows me it is important to do I will submit while "kicking and screaming" on the inside.

Twice in the past two days we have been presented with opportunities that seemed to be God asking, "if you're serious about reaching the poor and the lost, the homeless and disadvantaged" how far will you go? When presented with one situation for our church to minister to on Sunday evening - I wrestled sitting there in the pew. I assessed the situation trying to decide if they were "worthy" of financial help (are they drugged out or drunk?) - The thought came to mind - "This is a test of how much we really intend to do for God". In the second situation my response was -- not in the next 3 weeks, that's when our kids are going to be here off and on. I want our house sane and serene --just like the home they left. (When was our house sane or serene?) I can't take in an extra right now. They need the house to themselves. Don't I often think about how empty our house seems in "empty nest"?

We often mention the good works we plan to do for God when we get to our "promised land" and our building is built. I don't think we're going to step one foot on that place until we've proven sincere and shown ourselves to be diligent in what HE's called us to do NOW. Isn't it in these times of unplanned efforts that HE calls us to where we received the greatest blessings and discover new relationships?

I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.Matt. 25 gives us our job description. Help me to see you Lord in every opportunity that presents itself to me.